Okay, I’ve been reading through the comments and Day 10 progress can be divided into two lanes. One lane is brazenly charging forward, determined to get to their destination. And then there’s the defeatist lane, writers complaining that [insert first excuse here] and [insert second excuse here]. “It’s all so hard, you see!” “I’ve run out of ideas.” “I thought I was going to do this in my story then I realized I wasn’t and then I had to start over…”
Stop.
Just stop.
Stop treating writing like it’s a bully that picks on you at lunch every day.
Treat it like an opportunity.
I know I’ve been telling you to “just get the pages down.” But that doesn’t mean “Don’t try.” You should still be going into every section determined to do as well as you can in that moment.
One of the things that hurts us screenwriters is we exist in a medium that’s hyper-analyzed.
While critical analysis of other films is fun and can even be productive when you’re trying to get better, it’s the worst thing you can do when you’re writing something.
Because then you’re trying to achieve a standard that’s impossible. There isn’t a script out there that doesn’t have at least one element that can be aggressively criticized. So when you try and write a script that doesn’t have ANY weaknesses, you’re asking yourself to achieve something that’s never been done before.
This is the real reason you don’t want to write today.
This is the real reason you’re scared to give the script your all.
You can’t make it perfect. You can’t make it critic-proof. And if you can’t do that, why write at all?
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse but this stage of the writing should be all about creativity, imagination, exploration, trying stuff out. You are God. You’re building a universe. And that universe is going to be imperfect at first. BUT THAT’S OKAY.
The worst thing you can do is write from a place of fear. That’s not going to stoke the creative fire within you.
Here’s a tip that might help you out.
Writing is about momentum. When you’ve got it going, it feels easy. When you don’t, every scene feels like you’re lugging a cinder block to the top of Griffith Park.
Therefore, when you’ve written 4-5 bland scenes in a row, your momentum dwindles and you lose motivation.
Here’s a simple solution – UP THE STAKES OF THE SCENE
Even if a scene has a strong character goal and lots of conflict, it can still be bland. However, if you put something on the line (putting something on the line UPS THE STAKES) that scene can come alive.
Obviously, the more that’s on the line, the better the scene is going to play. But you can’t put the fate of the world on every scene. So you have to scale appropriately. Sometimes the stakes will be a 3. Sometimes they’ll be a 10. Where you run into trouble is when nothing is on the line at all. Zero stakes for 4-5 scenes in a row and of course you’re going to lose faith in your script.
Early in Parasite, the poor son comes over for his first day of tutoring at the upper class family’s home. The writer could’ve easily had the brother tutor the girl for the first session, flirt a little, and go home. But no, he has the mother sit in on the first session to see if he’s a good enough tutor for her daughter. SOMETHING IS ON THE LINE. If the mother isn’t impressed, he loses the job.
Now stop being a baby.
You are not allowed to exit the challenge.
You HAVE TO KEEP WRITING until the 14 days are over.
So, no, you’re not done.
No excuses!
